The issues of feminism, equality, and culture are intertwined and, therefore, should be considered when thinking of approaches to improve the social justice system. Many philosophers, writers, and academics made efforts to resolve the dilemma and pinpoint the roots of discrimination. The main causes of discrimination always involve heritage and background and Phillips and Okin review the issue from a cultural perspective, stating that it is present in modern society.
When it comes to the agreements in Phillips and Okin’s opinions, they are based on the presence and wide acceptance of inequality. According to Phillips, in ways that both flow into national and cultural hierarchies and promote complacency regarding how far civilizations have come, gender equality is occasionally said to be a fundamental value of present society (Phillips, 2018). Phillips provided examples of the protests to obtain more rights, yet improvements are still needed in the system. Similarly, Okin believes that not much has changed after centuries of discrimination, which suppresses the aspirations of many women, necessitating changes in the system (Okin, 1998). However, Phillips states that there is not much logic in attributing success in terms of equality to modernity since modernity does not lead to change, and the transition should come from the political sphere (Phillips, 2018). In contrast, Okin claimed that inequality and discrimination come from cultural backgrounds and it is part of peoples’ heritage, implying that change should come from within (Okin, 1998). Philips’s suggestion to decrease the tension between culture and feminism is through the involvement of politics and not simply waiting for everything to change on its own.
Hence, as Phillips and Okin examine the problem from a cultural viewpoint, they note that heritage and background are always the primary drivers of prejudice and that it still exists in contemporary society. According to Phillips, gender equality is occasionally asserted to be a basic idea of contemporary society in ways that both flow into national and cultural hierarchies and encourage complacency on how far civilizations have come. Correspondingly, Okin thinks that nothing has changed despite decades of prejudice, which limits many women’s goals and calls for systemic improvements. Philips suggests that rather than waiting for the situation to improve on its own, politicians should be involved in easing the tension between culture and feminism.
References
Okin, S. M. (1998). Feminism and multiculturalism: Some tensions. Ethics, 108(4), 661-684. Web.
Phillips, A. (2018). Gender equality: Core principle of modern society? Journal of the British Academy, 6, 169-185. Web.